On Monday, Billy visited the Countess of Chester Hospital to see equipment installed that will make a difference to orthopaedic patients, and which was bought thanks to his money-spinning.

Cash for his latest appeal to buy the traction equipment came from residents of Ellesmere Port, together with a donations from Urenco, Capen-hurst, and the police charity, which Billy personally secured by contacting Cheshire chief constable Peter Fahy.

Sister Chris Jones, of Ward 41, said: 'This new equipment is used in the care and treatment of patients who have fractures of the long bones.

'In such cases when surgical treatment is not possible, an option is to treat patients on traction. The new traction frame, which is now compatible with the ward's profile beds, is also used for interim treatment.

'We are extremely grateful to Billy for all his hard work, and also to Urenco, Cheshire Police and the many generous people of Ellesmere Port.'